Triduum crafts and learning

Let's begin with Holy Thursday (how is that tomorrow already???)

For some ideas that we have done in the past including washing of the feet, the craft pictured below, and our meal plan, see my Holy Thursday blog post here

More fun meal ideas here at Catholicallyear.com

or her post here with ideas for all of Holy Week (so at this point, we've missed a few days, but the biggest are yet to come, so join in)

I am totally planning to do this Holy Week in Handprints that I saw on Catholicicing.com

She also has some Holy Week Notebooking Pages

Free download, baby!

And now Good Friday

I have a post full of some ideas that we have done in the past You can find it here!

It includes the crafts/activities pictured below plus more

Bread-with-toothpicks  Crown of Thorns

Good Friday cross

Easter cross

Good Friday Crosses (on Easter or on one of the days following Easter, we complete the Easter Crosses see post here pictured next to the Good Friday cross)

Good Friday cross poems

I am working on making some simple Stations of the Cross for Toddlers like this one I found on Pinterest

This is a really neat Story of the Passion Lunch from Catholicicing.com

This is a Good Friday project I found on Pinterest that I'd love to do with the girls.  A lovely silhouette of the three crosses with a painted sunset background. 

This pin is for crafts for all of Holy Week  with scriptures.  We are a bit behind, but could totally make it up with some concentrated effort during the Triduum

Have a blessed Triduum, friends!

Connect the Dots

Another fun pre-writing and number awareness activity is a good ol' "Dot to Dot" worksheet.  You can probably find a whole book of these at your local dollar store, but you can also consider personalizing a few for your child.  It's as simple as drawing some dots in a creative shape and adding numbers.

This activity offers more practice drawing straight and curved lines (depending on your pictures and your child's interpretation of it).  Counting and number recognition are also skills that will be utilized in this activity. In addition, it is a lesson in attention to detail and not rushing.  Kayla had some troubles with her first one because she wasn't always paying attention to the actual numbers and was instead just connecting the dots where she thought they went next.  I had to slow her down which is a lesson in and of itself for kids (and adults too!)

 

Once they are finished connecting the dots, they are ready to work on their fine motor skills and creativity by adding some fun color to their picture.  To make the project even more fun, make it into a personalized picture and/or card for someone special.

Good Friday

Last year we did a few of these projects and Kayla loved them.  I added another few to the mix, too.

The first project is to make (or buy) some bread dough.  Braid it and make it into a crown.

Let the kiddos stick toothpicks in to make a crown of thorns.

 






Because I hate to waste and also because the girls are so young, we only put 20 toothpicks in and we only have two days (Good Friday and Holy Saturday) to pull them all out before Easter (and the bread is still good).  Bake the bread to a lovely golden color, and you are ready to begin the sacrificing part of the activity.

You can do as many toothpicks as you want and you can extend the sacrificing as long as you want. Some people do all of Lent, some do Holy Week...it's really up to you. You could even make a crown every week of Lent. The idea is simply to focus on making sacrifices and taking the thorns out of Jesus' crown of thorns as you do.  It gives the kids a better understanding that it is OUR sins that put him on the Cross, but He sacrificed his life for us to show He loved us.  We can show Him that we love Him by sacrificing too.


The next project is another that helps children to understand that it wasn't just a bunch of mean men a long time ago that put Jesus on the Cross.   It was me.   It was my sins.

Start with two white construction paper crosses for each child.  They symbolize our souls.

On Good Friday, color one of the crosses with all the 'yucky' colors (black, brown, gray).  This is to symbolize that when we sin, our souls get all dirty and yucky.
              

We'll finish the project tomorrow in preparation for Easter.  The second white cross is decorated with bright colors, sparkles, and whatever fun glitz you have on hand to signify NEW LIFE in Christ.  The second Cross replaces the old one on Easter to show that Christ's death on the cross and his rising from the dead have brought us salvation.  Now all we have to do is accept it and live as children of the light! (we'll post pictures of our pretty crosses tomorrow or on Easter...)

Our last activity centered a bit more around Mary at the foot of the cross.
“The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary” (John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, §10).

Additionally, Kayla and I did some poetry.  I reworked the "diamonte" poem to make it a cross shape with a total of 11 lines.  Kayla is a few months shy of 4 years old, but this is a bit above her, so she needed guidance.

Line 1:  Noun  (I went ahead and chose Jesus as our subject)
Line 2:  Adjective  (I read some virtues from the 1 Corinthians 13 "Love is patient..." to give her ideas)
Line 3:  Adjective
Line 4:  3 Verbs (ending in -ing--we discussed and read some of her Bible stories to give her ideas)
Line 5:  4 nouns (the first 2 describe the noun in Line 1, the second two will describe the noun on the last line of the poem.  You may want to stop after the first two and skip to Line 11 and work backwards)
Line 6:  Verb (describing last noun)
Line 7:  Verb (same)
Line 8: Verb (same)
Line 9: Adjective (same)
Line 10: Adjective (same)
Line 11: Noun  (that relates in some way to the noun in Line 1-- I went ahead and chose Mary)

Here is the cross poem that Kayla and I wrote together. All the decorating is hers, of course.

Our second poem is typically written as an autobiography.  I changed a few aspects and we wrote it as a biography with Our Lady as the subject.

Line 1: Name
Line 2:  Three characteristics or physical traits (adjectives)
Line 3:  Mother of  (Change this as needed)
Line 4:  Who loves  ____, ____, and ____ (three people, things, ideas)
Line 5:  Who feels _____ about ________ (one emotion about one thing, event)
Line 6:  Who needs ____, ____, and ____  (three things)
Line 7:  Who gives  ____, ____, and ____ (three things she shares or give to others)
Line 8:  Who is _________  (special title of Mary--we used a litany or ideas, though Alice didn't need any; she knew exactly what she wanted to say)
Line 9:  Another name/familiar title or repeat name from first line

I still had to help Kayla, but the answers for the biography poem seemed a bit easier for her to grasp.  She had a lot of really sweet ideas.

And of course, we can't forget that the Chaplet of Divine Mercy starts on Good Friday. What a beautiful prayer to reflect on the Passion and abundant Mercy of Christ.

St. Joseph's Feast Day

St. Joseph's Feast Day is a big deal in the Church.  During Lent, it's a big enough Feast (called a Solemnity) that you are exempt from Lenten fasting and abstinence from meat (the meat part only applies if the Solemnity falls on a Friday which it doesn't this year).

St. Joseph is the husband of Mary, and the foster-father of Jesus.  He is the Patron of the Universal Church. In addition to that he is also the Patron of a plethora of other things: fathers, cabinetmakers, carpenters, families, workers, a happy death, and travelers to name a few.  In many countries that are primarily Catholic, March 19th is celebrated as Father's Day.

There are many and varied traditions for the celebration of the St. Joseph Feast.  Red is traditionally worn on St. Joseph's feast much in the same way that green is worn on St. Patrick's Day (but without all the fluff of shamrocks and leprechauns).  Many cultures celebrate with a large feast to honor him.  Traditionally the meal is made up in large part with various breads, many of them shaped and woven into beautiful, baked masterpieces of deliciousness.  The symbols of St. Joseph are often incorporated in these edible pieces of artwork.

Symbols that represent St. Joseph are the Carpenter's square, hammer, or saw. White lilies represent his virtue, holiness, and obedience to God.  St. Joseph may also be depicted with a flowering staff or a Star of David.

For St. Joseph's Feast Day we will be celebrating with various breaded treats.

Because he is the Patron Saint of the Church, I crafted a little Church felt set for the girls to play with.  Ok, ok, so Kayla will be the one playing with this set as it has very small pieces.

We are also going to begin a Dad Book tradition.  Each year on St. Joseph's feast day the kids will ask their dad four questions.  I will also ask the kids a question.  All the answers will be recorded in the Dad Book and in the years to come we will have collected some amazing memories.

The Questions (you can adjust them or make up your own)

For Dad:

1. Name a favorite memory with each child that took place this year.

2. Think of a random memory you have with your own Dad to share with your kids.

3. Pick a Saint that you would like to learn more about as a family this year.

4. What is an important lesson you learned/piece of advice you have to share?

For each kid:

1. What is your favorite memory with Dad this year?

Prayer to St. Joseph

Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interest and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers. Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him close in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls - Pray for me.

Don't forget to pray for your father today (and your spiritual Fathers (priests, pastors) too!

Good St. Joseph...Pray for us!

The Foot Book

Another Dr. Seuss classic. 

 I saw several ideas for painting feet online, but none of them really popped out at me.  Last year we made a family foot book (one page was Daddy's footprint, one page was Mommy's, one was Kayla's and one was Elise's--little Ava wasn't out of the womb yet).

This year, a different idea came to me.  One that I plan to frame and put up in the girls' room.  Foot print letters!  You'll see, it's super fun and ridiculously cute.

All you need is:

Paint
Construction paper
Paint brushes
towels to clean off those painted feet!

We did a few different footprints which is why the paint in this picture is pink but the paint on the project is black...

Anyway, take the cute little feet and paint them with the paintbrush (it tickles so you'll get some glorious little child giggles in the process).  Carefully stamp the footprint on the paper.  Notice that we slanted some of the footprints depending on the letter we were going for.

Then it's Mom (or Dad's) turn to add the rest.  Use a smaller paintbrush to make the footprint into the first letter of each child's name and add the other letters alongside.

Read Dr. Seuss' The Foot Book together, add a frame to the picture, and voila!  Learning, book connections, room decorations, and memories!

Green Eggs and Ham

I saw a picture online with green plastic Easter eggs with rhyming words written on them.  I didn't find any real explanation for the activity other than that the eggs end up with the Green Eggs and Ham rhyming words written on them.

Kayla and I read the book and I had her listen carefully to see if she could pick out the rhyming words.  At 3 1/2 she needs some extra help and prodding especially since she is really into the letter sounds right now so listening for rhymes is a little confusing to her.  But by the end of the book she was really getting it and picked them out pretty quickly.

We took the activity a little further and tried to come up with some other words that rhymed to write on the opposite sides of the eggs.  So on the 'Sam, am, ham' egg, we added jam and lamb. She needed more assistance with this part since it wasn't just listening and  picking words out; it was thinking them up yourself. She loves looking at her eggs and trying to say all the rhyming words.  We'll fill them with jelly bellies soon to keep the rhyming going and add a fun dimension.

We always read this book a lot in March because Dr. Seuss' birthday is in March, but also because St. Patrick's Day is in March and it's all about the GREEN!  When I was a child my mom made us green scrambled eggs and green muffins for breakfast every St. Patrick's Day.  We carry on the tradition around here.  The more GREEN the better because we do so like green eggs and ham.  We do so like them, Sam I Am!

Lenten Bead Box

A friend of mine, Kat, gave me this idea.   Her mom did this with her and her sibs during Lent when they were kids.

I changed some things slightly and added some ideas of my own because Kat couldn't quite remember what all the colors stood for.

The idea is to give your child a tool to better keep track of their actions on a daily basis.  Each bead represents an act that we can do (good or bad).  At the end of the day, you take a look at your beads and reflect on how you have loved Jesus and ask forgiveness for your failings.

The first step is to make a little box to hold your beads.  I covered a small box with construction paper (Kayla colored on the paper before we glued it to the box since it's much easier to color on a table surface)

Then she added stickers of Jesus and Mary to the box afterwards.
             
The meaning of each bead:

Yellow- acts of obedience

Purple- acts of sacrifice

Blue- acts of prayer

Pink-acts of charity

Green- kind words

Black- any type of sin

   

We explained them to Kayla using some examples.  Yellow is listening to what Mom and Dad ask you to do. Purple beads are earned when you give up something you really want, like letting Elise play with your favorite pink bike outside and using another one instead.  We get blue beads when we say our prayers or sing a song about Jesus or Mary.  Kayla can get pink beads for sharing nicely with her sister or cleaning up her toys because she has done something nice for someone else.  Green beads are put inside her box when she remembers to use her manners or give someone a kind compliment.

Kayla loves adding colored beads to her box.  At the end of the day we discuss what sorts of loving acts she did and say we're sorry to Jesus for all the black beads.  Then we get rid of the black beads, save the colored beads, and start over the next day.  All the saved colored beads will be used for an Easter necklace.
*If Kayla were older we'd leave the black beads until she was able to go to Confession to show how the Sacrament washes her sins away.